Eagle on 18 puts Tiger in charge of U.S. Open

Big comeback: Despite pain in his knee, he shoots a 70.

Tiger Woods made one improbable shot after another on Saturday and put himself in prime position to win the 14th major of his career today at the U.S. Open.

In his first tournament back after having knee surgery in April following the Masters, Woods appeared to be fighting off pain on some of his tee shots. He winced or bent over awkwardly more than once. Nonetheless, he played the final six holes at 4-under par and shot a 1-under 70 to finish the third round in the lead at 3-under 210.

Woods, who missed fairways and hit into the gallery with regularity on the back nine, made the first of his miraculous shots on the par-5 13th hole. With the ball sitting on the back fringe, he sank a 66-foot putt for eagle.

He followed that with a bogey on the par-4 14th, but came back with an even more unlikely shot on the par-4 17th: Woods pitched out of the rough, his ball hit the flag stick and bounced directly into the hole.

"The shot at 17 had no business going in the hole," said Woods, bidding for his third U.S. Open title. "After I hit that shot, I thought I'd have an 8-10 foot putt back down the hill. Somehow, it goes in.

"You've got to be kidding me. That's the worst possible tee shot to hit on that hole. I'm thinking whatever you do, don't make six, and somehow, I walk away with a three."

After those two holes, Woods' final shot -- a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th -- seemed almost routine. Asked if his knee was better or worse since Friday, Woods said it was "more sore."

"It does affect certain shots," he added.

Lee Westwood, who also shot a third-round 70, will join Woods in today's final pairing. He's one stroke ahead of Greensburg's Rocco Mediate, who led at 4-under at one point, but made a double bogey on the 15th hole and a bogey on the 16th. Mediate birdied the 17th and finished with a par on 18 to be one of just three players under par for the tournament.

Mediate said he had a "great" day except for the double, and his only disappointment was in not reaching the final pairing with Woods.

"It's going to take a ridiculous effort for one of us to beat him," Mediate said. "If we go out and shoot 4-under par, you never know. It'll take a perfectly clean day from me -- and maybe five or six birdies -- to win this golf tournament."

Westwood said he wasn't as prepared as he would have liked to have been for this week's tournament. Fortunately for him, that hasn't affected his results.

Westwood, a 35-year-old from Worksop, England, has a chance to win his first major -- not bad for a player who was sick and didn't play for a couple of weeks.

"I didn't have too many expectations," Westwood said. "It's sometimes easier to play golf when you really don't expect too much. You just freewheel and play how you should play -- one shot at a time."

Westwood is a veteran of five Ryder Cups, and his best finish in a U.S. Open was in 2000, when he tied for fifth. He said he didn't expect the pressure to bother him on Saturday night.

"I'm a pretty good sleeper, and I've still got a bit of jet lag," he said. "I'm driving the ball pretty well. My distance control, irons, has been pretty good. I'm thinking my way around the golf course pretty well, and that's my game."

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, and D.J. Trahan are tied for fourth at 1-over. Eleven players had sub-par third rounds, including Hunter Mahan, who posted the best U.S. Open score of his career, a 69. Mahan, a 26-year-old who turned professional in 2003, has one PGA Tour victory, the 2007 Travelers Championship.

"It feels great," said Mahan, who's tied for sixth. "Any time you shoot in the red numbers at a USGA event, you're doing something right."

Sergio Garcia agreed. In fact, his one regret for the week was shooting a 76 on Thursday and forcing himself to claw back into contention with back-to-back 70s on Friday and Saturday.

"That definitely wasn't the plan, I can tell you that," Garcia said. "But, yeah, I think that when you're comfortable with your game, when you have confidence in your game, you know you can come back."